NEW YORK — There are those who will argue that the world of television hasn’t suffered such a loss in nearly a generation, and they’re right.

When David Letterman signed off CBS’ “Late Show” for good Wednesday, he closed the book on more than his own incomparable career in late night. He closed out a broadcasting epoch that also encompasses his mentor, “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson, who retired with great emotion and ceremony in 1992. Dave also called it a day for Steve Allen and Jack Paar, who back in the 1950s broke ground as each took a turn as the host of “Tonight.”

All that is part of Letterman’s legacy — as well as a career-spanning total of “eight minutes of laughter,” he cracked in his final monologue.

For anyone sad that Letterman is leaving the spotlight, he offered joking consolation, announcing that he and about-to-be-former bandleader Paul Shaffer would soon “be debuting our new act at Caesars Palace with our white tigers.”